Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Dental School at UCLA Rocked by Controversy

On Tuesday, officials at the UCLA School of Dentistry acknowledged that the American Dental Association is investigating UCLA students for cheating on a licensing exam, while the campus newspaper published an investigation into preferential admissions to a prestigious residency program at the dental school, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Licensing Exam

At least a dozen UCLA students are under investigation by the ADA for allegedly cheating on an exam that is required to practice dentistry. The students are believed to have shared compact discs with improperly obtained questions from ADA's National Board Dental Examinations, according to dental school officials speaking anonymously to the Times.

Students at USC, Loma Linda University and New York University also are under investigation.

Admissions

The Daily Bruin on Tuesday published an investigation alleging that relatives of large donors to the dental school were given preferential treatment to its orthodontics residency program. There are only six spaces in the program each year.

The investigation and an independent audit earlier this year have incited changes in dental school admissions policies, according to UCLA officials (Sahagun, Los Angeles Times, 11/14).

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